The Cruise Market has grown so much in the last ten years, and no matter whom you have cruised with in the past, no matter who you speak to they will say it is different today to what it used to be. So may say it is not what it used to be and I have to admit I would agree, I am a little old fashioned and love the ships of old, such as the Oriana or the Aurora in the P&O fleet, there is something about having the open sweeping decks on the back and the more traditional style of cruising.

2020 is set to be a huge year for the UK Cruise Industry and especially for Southampton.

So this week we have had confirmation that Royal Caribbean will bring the Anthem of the Seas back to Southampton in 2020, the ship that will join her is yet to be announced, I doubt it will be Independence but with all of the ship out of the UK Presence is got to be there to get the market.

Silversea to me has to be one of my favourite cruise lines when it comes to the ultra-luxury market. 6* Cruising at its finest and I have been so lucky to have experienced two of the ships in the Silversea Fleet.

On Monday this week, it marked a moment in history for P&O as the brand new ship for P&O Cruises – P&O Iona went on sale. Monday was the sale day for the top tiers within the P&O loyalty club and today for the everyone.

Sail around the World at the Ultimate end of Luxury! But perhaps not the Luxury Prices?

Regent Seven Seas have just launched the 2021 Round the World Cruise, at a total of 117 nights sailing from Miami on the 1st January, covering 30 countries and 61 ports. She will also feature 56 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 11 overnight stops.

P&O Cruises have always said that they would not do drinks packages, and to be honest I have always thought it would have to be expensive for them to do it to make it worthwhile, if it was too cheap then you’d end up perhaps having people cruising for the wrong reasons.

Last week saw some very sad news hit the headlines in the cruise industry, so much so that it was all on the South Today news. P&O are selling the Oriana!

Ships come and go but this is one that I am really disappointed about, Oriana is one of my favourite ships, yes, she is an older vessel but if Cruise and Maritime can operate a ship that is 1965 which is the Marco Polo and she is still going, in comparison the Oriana is just a baby.

MSC really have grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years and not much is changing for the years to come. MSC has become one of the biggest cruise lines in the World, last year MSC Launch both MSC Meraviglia and the MSC Seaside, this year they have launched the sister to the Seaside, the MSC Seaview. Then next year we will see them launching the MSC Belissima which will be named in Southampton in March 2019, and then later in the year will be the MSC Grandiosa which is the newest class in the MSC Fleet called the Meraviglia Plus Class.